dineLA is an exciting 2-week dining event created by the Los Angeles Convention and Visitor Bureau (aka LA, INC) to introduce diners to hundreds of neighborhood restaurants throughout Los Angeles County. LA’s a huge county full of many great spots for food and drink. So, to help filter through over 300 participating restaurants, dineLA’s invited me to call out a few restaurants offering vegetarian dineLA menu items. I live in West Hollywood, so most of my recommendations are for spots in my area.

For dineLA, participating restaurants offer a fixed 3-course menu for lunch and/or dinner…a great way to taste popular dishes. If a restaurant offers only 1 or 2 vegetarian items on their dineLA menu, many will let you order just those vegetarian items, so do ask. You’ll also find a few vegan and almost raw items too.

With so many great dineLA restaurants, it was challenging to choose just 10! Here’s a few vegetarian items to look for. If you prefer vegan, ask to leave off the dairy. It’s that simple. Click each link below to view their dineLA menu:

Akasha - Chef Akasha and I share a similar outlook for living a life that’s eco green, treading lightly on our planet Earth. Her dinner menu includes a Black Kale Salad, Olive Oil Croutons, Sheep Cheese, Meyer Lemons Vinaigrette – I love kale for it’s texture, color, flavor, and potent nutrient profile. Meyer lemons have a sweeter, less acidic flavor that the more common store bought lemon varieties. Akasha’s desserts sound yummy too: Salted Caramel + Chocolate Fudge Sunday (sounds so gooey and decadent), Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and a Flourless Tiramisu (I always like to choose flourless as a gluten-free option). Akasha is a sustainable business that was built using reclaimed materials, is lit with LED lights, and uses hemp material for their aprons.View Akasha’s menu

BLD - Owner and Chef Neal Fraser and I both had recipes featured in the Food + Wine Magazine’s Annual Cookbook, which was how I first discovered BLD, a great spot for comfort foods. BLD always offers vegan items on their daily menu. Vegetarian items on their dineLA dinner menu include a Roasted Carrot Soup; Grapefruit Salad with Fennel, Avocado, Pecorino Cheese, and Tangerine Vinaigrette; and a Butternut Squash Gnocchi. Now that’s an antioxidant and vitamin C blast from beta carotene, grapefruit, and tangerine…yum. Desserts include a Warm Monkey Bread with Bourbon Creme Anglaise (Monkey? I must figure out what this is, love monkeys!) and Banana Caramel Ice Cream, or a Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding Parfait with Peanut Butter Pudding.View BLD menu

Lexington Social House- Owner Junella Chin is a fellow Cornell Alumni, and on their dinner menu they’re offering a Local Beet Salad with Tangerines, Pistachios, Arugula, Aged Goat Cheese, and Lemon or a Local Apple and Pomegranate Salad. Packed with vitamins and antioxidants for boosting our immune system for the winter months, a farmer once told me we should be eating a pomegranate daily for its vitamins and nutrients, to boost our overall health. So, the Apple Salad will help me eat more pomegranates! For the main, Parpardelle with Kale Pesto…love Kale! And dessert is a choice of Apple Tart, Monkey Bread (I’m year of the Monkey and love everything Monkey!), or Flourless Chocolate Souffle with and Almond Milk Cream (dairy-free, perhaps gluten-free too, nice!).View Lexington Social House menu

Loteria! Grill – Hollywood - Owner and Chef Jimmy Shaw tells me since most of his food is meat stock based, he is offering optional vegetarian/vegan sauces. For lunch, Esquites with corn, crema, guse anejo, onion, epazote, and chile; Chile Relleno De Quesillo O Picadillo (the red sauce has meat, so ask for the green tomatillo sauce that’s vegan); and desserts include Helado De Chocolate O Chongos, Guava Cheesecake, and Poached Pear. For dinner, he’s offering a puree of Chile Poblano; an interesting Hibiscus Flower Salad that sounds beautiful; Ensalada De Milpa Asada; and 3 desserts to choose from including Crepes, a Rum Custard Ice Cream (recipe inspired by Nuns of the Convent of Santa Clara in Puebla, how intriguing); and the Guava Cheesecake.View Loteria! Grill – Hollywood menu

Penthouse at the Huntley - This is one of my favorite spaces as it sits at the top floor of the Huntley Hotel with amazing view of the ocean and Santa Monica. I’m forever grateful to Exec Chef Seth Greenburg for inviting me in to spend the day with him in his kitchen teaching me his molecular gastronomy techniques. The lunch menu has several vegetarian items including a Romaine Hearts Salad with Sourdough Croutons and Lemon-Caper Dressing. I love capers, which are a pickled vegetable and a great source for probiotics that aide digestion. Spicy Tomato Capellini; and 3 desserts to choose from including a Chocolate Lava Cake, Creme Brulee, and Profiteroles.View Penthouse at the Huntley menu

Ray’s and Stark Bar - Bravo to Exec Chef Morningstar for being named Best New Restaurant 2011 by Esquire Magazine. Chef Morningstar has a garden where he grows some of his green and herbs behind the restaurant. Dinner items include Little Gem Lettuces, Truffled Rice Agnolotti with hen of the woods mushrooms and wild arugula, yummy; Aged Nantes Carrots; and choice of 2 desserts: Chocolate-Peppermint Mousse or Johah Gold Apple Crumble or Variations of this week’s market citrus. I was stoked when Morningstar told me his boss Master Chef Joachim Splichal gave him a copy of “Ani’s Raw Food Essentials” to use while designing recipes and menus for Google campus.View Ray’s and Stark Bar menu

RH at Andaz West Hollywood - I was taken to this restaurant recently and was pleasantly surprised to see that about a third of their menu is vegan, with a “V” denoting vegan items placed throughout their menu. For lunch, Vegetable Soup; Caesar Salad; Truffle Grilled Cheese with Fries (I love truffle anything!); Portabello Mushroom Burger with Fries; and an Agnolotti Pasta. For dinner, Vegetable Soup; Heirloom Tomato Salad with Burrata and baby arugula. Heirloom tomatoes have been open-pollinated, are not hybridized, and are not genetically modified. Truffle Risotto with wild mushrooms (I love mushrooms for flavor and they have been used for centuries in Chinese Medicine to boost immunity). For dessert, choose between Apple Tart or Chocolate Cake.View RH at Andaz West Hollywood menu

Simon LA - Owner and Exec Chef Simon is all about making his diners happy, and is super accommodating with substitutions and requests. So just ask to leave out the cheese or dairy if you’re looking for vegan. For lunch, Market Roasted Vegetable Kale Salad with Fennel Pollen and a Sherry Vinaigrette; Mascarpone Polenta; and 3 desserts: Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Vietnamese Banana Creme Brulee, and House Made Kit Kat (omg, yum!). For dinner, Spinach Salad with dates, persimmon, blue cheese and a warm sherry vinaigrette. Desserts include Warm Goat Cheese on Toast with Frisee and toasted almond and citrus zests, Sea Salt Chocolate Pot De Creme, or a Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Blueberries.View Simon LA menu

Tar Pit - Chef Jason Fullilove (great last name!) has moved over from Campanille to revamp the Tar Pit menu, and is offering 2 vegan dishes on his dineLA dinner menu including a Terrine of roasted vegetables, caramelized kumquats, and plantains or a Pasta with winter root vegetables, roasted tomato, and bitter greens. Love kumquats this time of year for their tart flavor, beta carotene, and vitamin C. Choose from 3 desserts including Bandy Chocolate Cake, Bananas Foster topped with toasted marshmallow (whoa), and Apple Tart Tatin.View Tar Pit menu

One of my favorite foods is cabbage because it’s super versatile, has hardly any calories, is free of wheat and gluten, is great for digestion, and is beautiful in color (purple and green). It tastes awesome in salads, gives us valuable probiotics as pickled sauerkraut, plus it works perfectly as a “shell” to be stuffed with yummy fillings to make a delicious hand held treat. I’m currently reintroducing heart-healthy fats into my diet from flax and chia seeds (omega-3), some nuts (vitamin E and antioxidants), and olives to keep my skin supple and moist, especially now that autumn is upon us. I picked up a bunch of avocados at the Farmers’ Market, but am disappointed they didn’t make it into my bag!

I’m also embedding it below from my own YouTube channel:Ani’s Raw Food Asia + Vegetarian Times Magazine: How to Chiffonade

I first filled up my purple cabbage shell with Chiffonade green cabbage. Next, I layered on a BlackOlive Tapenade, from Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen, page 155, and Candied Onions, inspired by my Buckwheat-Battered “Fried” Onion Rings, from page 116 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials, plus I added maple syrup to sweeten the onions. I then topped it all with artichoke hearts, and would have added avocado, if I had some on hand.

Black Olive Tapenademakes 4 servings

1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced, about 1 clove

1/2 cup black olives, pitted

1/2 cup green olives, pitted

1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon thyme, fresh

1 teaspoon rosemary, fresh

Place all ingredients into food processor, mix well.

Will keep for a week or longer stored in fridge.

Candied Onionsmakes 4 servings

4 cups thinly sliced sweet onion, about 1 whole

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons tamari or nama shoyu (raw soy sauce), to taste

1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup, to taste

Place all ingredients into mixing bowl. Set aside to marinate and wilt for at least 10 minutes. Add syrup to your liking. I choose to make this sweet! Squeeze excess liquid before using.

All of these beautiful photos were taken by the amazing Sherman Lee. Thanks Sherman!!

It was a weekend full of local and seasonal gourmet foods (though way too much bacon! – what’s up with bacon these days?) and great expert panels and talks.

I love this fish eye photo, it was a full crowd with great people old and new to raw foods and the raw food diet and lifestyle. Thanks to the wonder woman organizer Shawna Dawson for all her support, for announcing my talk over the loud speaker, and for putting me and Ani’s Raw Food Asia in their printed program.

Q+A is my favorite part of my appearances because I get to listen and interact with my new friends.

It’s always so nice to have my brother Max and my family with me at my events.

This lovely lady kept asking me about how to learn to make raw food. I say if you’re interested in making food, you have to learn how to make all foods first. Then you can translate it into raw food prep.

Libby drove all the way up from San Diego with her friends just to grab an early copy of Ani’s Raw Food Asia.

Please check my homepage and also my calendar of events for upcoming events and stops along my book tour. Hope to see you all very soon. xoxo

It was Kanga’s 8th ‘birthday’ and also our anniversary on Labor Day. Each year, I make my darling pooch a heart shaped cake (you may have seen the photo from last year’s birthday on page 301 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials). This year, the cake was made with sunflower seeds and a few Medjool dates. Kanga was so eager to eat it, she got green birthday candle wax on the tip of her nose….so cute!

In a blink of an eye, the cake was gone! And, I wonder if you can guess who’s in the background with her ‘magic’ tatoos….hint….London and the UK.

For our birthday ladies’ luncheon, I made Jicama Rice, Mexican style by processing Jicama, then adding chopped red bell peppers, onion, corn kernels, cilantro, and a pinch of sea salt. Recipe below…. It was a lunch of British guests, one of whom is a celiac. That means she needs to avoid wheat gluten. I love that about the raw food diet, it’s free of wheat, gluten, refined sugar, dairy, and guilt!

I had made myself a beet, parsley, lemon, and cucumber juice earlier that morning, then mixed in the beet pulp with a sunflower pate. I used this pate to stuff poblano peppers, then dehydrated them for a few hours to soften. For a sauce, I blended a simple tahini with lemon juice, salt, splash of water.

This was the dessert my lovely friend Kate Magic made us for dessert! It was made with figs, cacao, coconut, and lucuma…and it was incredible! But this was one course poor Kanga didn’t get to try (dogs and cacao don’t mix well…chocolate).

Jicama Mexican Ricemakes 4 servings

4 cups jicama, peel, dice

1/2 cup onion, yellow, chop

1 cup corn kernels

1 cup red bell pepper, dice

1/2 cup cilantro, chop

1/2 jalapeno pepper, chop, to taste (about 1 tablespoon)

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons olive or hemp oil, optional

Place jicama in food processor, process into small bits. Be careful not to over process. Scoop into mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, toss to mix well.

Kanga’s Birthday Cake1 serving

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup medjool dates, pitted

Place sunflower seeds in food processor. Process into small pieces. Add pitted dates, and process. Sunflower will stick together and bind into a cake ‘dough’. Form dough into heart, and serve.

Note: Sweets should be served in moderation to dogs, as to humans as well.

If serving to humans or to mix up variations to this recipe, try adding in sea salt, vanilla, cacao / carob, and or goji berries.

Almonds provide calcium, protein, and vitamin E, bananas are loaded with potassium, and açaí is full of antioxidants and healthy omegas. This easy smoothie is a great post workout fuel – it helps increase circulation and blood flow to stressed muscles, while building lean tissue.

2 bananas, sliced

1/4 cup raw almond butter

1 tbsp raw cacao powder

3 to 4 cups Organic Sambazon Açaí Juice

Combine the banana, almond butter, and organic Sambazon Açaí Juice in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Best served immediately, but will keep for a couple days in the fridge.

I was invited to Rockefeller Center for a guest appearance on LX New Yorkwith hosts Janice Huff and Jane Hanson. I talk about 4 key ingredients in the raw food diet, and made 3 recipes using ‘secret’ ingredients: Marinara Pasta, Strawberry Tartlets, and Chocolate Pudding “slash” Frosting.

(this video’s audio is totally out of synch, and I’m trying to get my hands on a better copy of the segment, which I’ll upload later)

I was a guest on San Diego Living with host Erin Mikael’s Green Scene segments on June 24, 2010, and then again on June 27th. We make Cashew Kream with Fresh Red White and Blue Berry Parfaits and Fruit Tartlets.

Last weekend, I was invited to speak and demo my raw foods at the Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down annual celebration in Watkins Glen, NY. It was a huge honor to be included in the speaker lineup with founder Gene Baur and T. Colin Campbell, author of the China Study. The Hoe Down was one of the best organized events I’ve attended.

Volunteers helped me prepare pies for over 120 people in about 30 minutes just before my presentation. We chose the manual ‘food processor’ style of hand mixing dates with almonds. Good forearm exercise.

It’s so much fun to sign books after a raw food demo and talk. I love having this opportunity to connect with other like minded folks in the community.

Later, I got to visit the animals out on the other part of the 200 acre farm. This guy was 3,000 pounds big, what a cutie pie!

Amazing to stand in the pasture with a flock of sheep as the sun was setting. It was so peaceful. Actually, I rested really well on the farm every night.

That evening was the Barn Dance where we line-danced first, then it broke out into a full on night club with a packed dance floor until after 1am. Everyone had tons of energy and was jumping up and down, especially Gene Baur, who was wringing sweat out of his t-shirt! My hair was soaked in sweat too. I noticed no one stunk of body oder, and people’s sweat didn’t gross me out as it usually does. That’s a huge plus for eating clean, vegan, and raw.

I realized this was my 20th year reunion from Cornell, and I hadn’t been back to Ithaca since I graduated in 1990 (except returning briefly for my brother Max’s graduation in 1993). So, it was a double treat to visit Ithaca and Farm Sanctuary. I’m looking forward to the next Hoe Down in California, and visiting New York’s Farm Sanctuary again soon.

I was invited to visit 105degrees in Oklahoma City by owners Chef Matthew Kenney and the lovely Dara Prentice. I taught a public class on Tuesday evening July 13th to a packed room of ladies, spoke to the Academy students on the 14th, and then hosted a sold out RAWkstar Dinner event later that evening.

My class introduction where I speak about being raised on a raw food diet, and my reintroduction as an adult to the gourmet raw food diet for functionality, health, vitality, mental clarity, and focus.

Here I show the class how to make my South-of-the-Border Wraps, which are super fresh, healthy, raw food wraps filled with Cashew Chipotle Cheeze and drizzled with a decadent Chocolate Mole Sauce. From page 180 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials.

It was an amazing trip, I love Oklahoma City. Everyone was super warm and inviting. And, I was even surprised by a delivery of a bouquet of balloons from 3 ladies the following day! The card read “Thank you for a thrilling evening last night”….which could potentially sound strange taken out of context. Ha haaa.

I’m so grateful to have amazing friends like Dara and Matthew who create so much good in our world! Thank you Dara and Matthew for all of your inspiration, love, and beauty! xoxo